The Fifth Herrscher...
Frozen blood transformed into tragic ice crystals in the sky.
The snow-white sun emitted a pale, sorrowful light.
A bird with broken wings screamed heartbreakingly.
The man falling downwards weakly reached out to the ice and snow queen towering above.
Filthy purple lines grew wildly on the skin underneath the cracked armor.
The soul's whispers kept clamoring in his ears.
Everything vanished in the winter.
Both Anna and Lin melted away on that final day covered in winter snow.
...
"I'm so tired~"
Anna tried to put her hand on Lin's shoulder, but he instinctively brushed it away.
They had basically walked through every place the handyman had visited in the past two days, but Lin still hadn't detected any Honkai energy reaction. Maintaining contact with the Third Branch and having them continuously monitor the area also yielded no clues.
The trail was cold again.
Anna's feet were numb from the bitter cold wind, but Lin still looked completely fine.
"O-o-old man..." Anna's teeth were chattering from the cold. "D-d-does your clothing have any cold-proof function?"
Lin was actually wearing an armor, not clothes. After the incident where Sakura infiltrated the Moth of the Flame headquarters, the technology for the fourth-generation lightweight armor she wore was made public. Lin wore a lightweight armor when he was not in formal combat.
Most soldiers switched to the fourth-generation armor, which was a technological update for them, but Lin required more auxiliary devices and could not be compressed into a lightweight version, so his formal combat still used his original power armor.
Just like his helmet, it could not be simplified.
"No. If you're cold, go back."
"N-no." Anna stubbornly refused. "I'm worried."
"..."
"I-I'll tell you about my past, phew... it's so cold."
"No need."
...
"It's all because of you! You ruined our home! Get out!"
"Because of me? Don't you have any responsibility?"
"Are you worthy of Anna? Are you worthy of me?"
"You're using Anna as a shield..."
The little chestnut-haired girl sat on the sofa, dangling her feet, listening to the person who was supposedly her father and the person who was supposedly her mother arguing.
What exactly happened didn't matter anymore. They just needed a reason to argue, to vent, to curse...
It started a long time ago. Since she was old enough to remember "Mom and Dad," she had never paid attention to their names.
They said they were her parents, and that they loved her, but she had never seen them smile at her. Endless clamor occupied her entire life.
Yet, the moms and dads in the storybooks weren't like this. They were harmonious and kind, never argued loudly, and never threw things at each other's faces.
But when she asked the two of them this question, their expressions were surprisingly consistent. Like old friends, they pointed at her in unison and said: "This is your 'destiny.' Are you still complaining now?"
All of this was destiny.
This was the first lesson her two biological parents taught Anna.
When cheap "love" was used as a weapon to attack the other, Anna accepted her "destiny."
She didn't love these two people, didn't love this world, and didn't even love herself.
Then, finally, after an uncountable number of curses and arguments, the man and woman, who had lived together for years, dragged her away from home to process their divorce.
Passersby's stares, the endless rain, the roar of cars...
It was as if the world had lost its original color, turning into a single, cold white.
"Dad, Mom... is this also 'destiny'?"
Anna, like a broken doll, allowed herself to be dragged by the two who were trying to use her to prove they were good parents. At this question, their faces contorted like a rag. They pushed her onto the road.
"You don't understand us at all! Your birth was a mistake! If it weren't for you—"
"Bang!"
Bright red liquid splashed onto Anna's motionless eye corner.
The writhing limbs were run over by a car wheel. The rest of their words dissipated in the sound of screeching brakes.
The smell of tire friction and the ground mixed with the rain. Cold rain and hot blood mixed together, indistinguishable from each other, turning into the color of ice and snow in Anna's eyes.
She had only seen this color since a long time ago.
The two people who said they were her parents lay on the road, covered in blood and gore, having been hit by the car and thrown away, just a step away from her.
This is destiny.
For some reason, this was still the only sentence she remembered.
"Oh my goodness! That child's mom and dad pushed her away!"
"What great parents!"
These were the words Anna heard.
So they pushed her away not because they hated her, but because they wanted to save her? Just like the moms and dads in the storybooks, giving up their lives for their child...
Was that really the case?
She remembered their ugly faces and smiled involuntarily.
...
"Is your name Anna?"
Sitting on a swing and gazing at the golden color of the autumn harvest, Anna was suddenly called from behind. A woman wearing a nun's habit, who looked not much older than her, came to her side.
Being sent to an orphanage was expected. Anna couldn't imagine anyone adopting her.
"I am." Anna replied without the vibrancy of a living person.
The nun smiled kindly: "I'm Hina, the nun who just arrived here today."
Liar.
Anna could see at a glance that Hina was lying.
She was one of the more solitary children in the orphanage. If Hina had just started today, it would be impossible for her to seek her out directly, and she also knew her name, indicating she was aware of her situation beforehand and wanted to use the "outsider" identity to make her lower her guard.
Besides, Hina's smile didn't look like it was her first time counseling a child.
"Why are you here all alone?"
"Because I find it fun."
"Is that so? Can I play with you?"
"No."
Anna's concise answer made Hina's expression subtle.
Hina maintained a strained smile: "Are you sure I can't?"
"If you want to get along with me, why don't you talk about my original family instead of avoiding the topic?" Anna's eyes turned to Hina's face. "Then perhaps I might be interested in talking to you."
Hina was momentarily stunned, then followed Anna's lead: "Then your former..."
"I hate my family, my parents, my birth... just like I hate you. I am destined to hate everything in this world."
Anna forcefully interrupted her, stood up, gave her a cold stare, and turned to walk away.
"We're done talking. Don't bother me."